Massabesic Lake is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in southern New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, covering about 2561 acres (1,036.4 ha) (equivalent to about 4 sq mi (10.4 km²)) within the city of Manchester

Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...

 and the town of Auburn

Auburn, New Hampshire

Auburn is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,953 at the 2010 census. The town was called by WMUR News 9 as number one of "New Hampshire's Most Beautiful Towns" in July 2010. It was also named 18 in The New York Times' "Top 200 Towns To Raise a Family."-...

. Because it provides drinking water for Manchester, swimming and water skiing are not allowed there. Popular sports on the lake are sailing, fishing, kayaking and mountain biking. The recreational trails along Lake Massabesic provide beautiful views of the lake and the town of Auburn.

Besides flowing into the Manchester water system, the lake's water feeds Cohas Brook

Cohas Brook

Cohas Brook is a river located in southern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, part of the Gulf of Maine watershed....

, leading to the Merrimack River

Merrimack River

The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...

. Massabesic is an Indian

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 name, meaning "place of much water" or "near the great brook."

Native American legends claim that the famous New Hampshire chief Passaconaway

Passaconaway

Passaconaway, a name which translates to "Child of the Bear", was a chieftain in the Pennacook tribe.-Life:One of the key native figures in the colonial history of New Hampshire, Passaconaway was believed to have been born between 1550 and 1570, and is said to have died in 1679...

died on Lake Massabesic. A settler reported that the elder chief was headed towards Loon Island on the east side of the lake, which was "a place of fond memories of the aged chief's young past". When he was in the north part of the lake, a thunderstorm was being formed, which "was a sign of the presence of the Great Spirit". Then, a lightning bolt hit the canoe in which Passaconaway was riding in, and he and the canoe were disintegrated instantly.

External links

• "Lake Massabesic Watershed", Manchester Water Works website